Hungary Submits Constitutional Change to Bar Migrant Quotas

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban submitted a draft constitutional amendment that aims to block what he sees as the threat of "forced resettlement" of migrants around the European Union.

The amendment aims to protect Hungary’s “constitutional identity” by designating the authorities in Budapest as having the exclusive right to decide on accepting refugees, according to the text of the draft law published on parliament’s website on Monday.

Orban submitted the proposed change following an Oct. 2 referendum that urged voters to reject what he sees as a threat to Europe’s security from migration. The ballot, which aimed to block an EU policy of distributing refugees according to national quotas, was invalid amid low turnout even as more than 90 percent of valid votes backed the government’s position.